The United States witnessed a significant increase in abortion rates in the first half of 2023, compared to the same period in 2020.
The Guttmacher Institute released a report that over 511,000 pregnancies were terminated between January and June of this year, up from 465,000 three years ago. This surge occurred despite the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, prompting various states to implement new abortion-related laws.
The rise in abortions can be attributed to a growing reliance on self-managed abortions. Even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, more than half of all abortions in the United States were being performed using abortion pills, according to additional data from the Guttmacher Institute.
It’s important to note that the Guttmacher Institute’s data accounted for “medication abortions prescribed via telemedicine by licensed U.S. doctors and sent to patients in states allowing telemedicine provision.” However, it did not track abortions occurring without any formal healthcare system involvement, such as those obtaining abortion pills from community support networks or websites based outside the United States. For example, Aid Access, an organization based in Austria, revealed that over 15,000 women from across the United States had requested abortion pills through their service, including 3,500 women residing in states where abortion is supposedly banned.
Additionally, the increase in abortions is notable as data has come out that women from Republican-led states with stricter abortion laws are traveling to Democrat-led states with more lenient regulations to terminate pregnancies. States like Illinois, Kansas and Colorado, which are geographically close to states with stricter laws, have seen a significant uptick in abortion rates over the past three years.
